Poll: How do you like your bananas?
Last month’s poll
Last month we discussed ingredient lists which, truth be told, are a favourite subject of mine (as you probably already know if you’re a regular reader around here!). I’m ecstatic to report that out of 35 voters, 71% always read the front of the package, the nutrition facts table, and the ingredient list! 26% sometimes check the ingredient list, 3% don’t really care what’s in their food, and 0% say that they trust the nutrition claims made on the front packaging of food products.
Obviously, with the demographic of readers we have here, as always the results are going to be heavily skewed. But it is so nice to see such a high percentage of people reading ingredient lists. I fully support not trusting major food corporations, until those food manufacturers smarten up and start caring about our health rather than solely about making a profit.
This month’s poll
This week while I was studying researching procrastinating, I came across this post at The Delicious about bananas. It occurred to me that Sarah is onto something: no one really seems to “like” bananas.
I eat bananas in some form nearly every day. But I never eat just a banana. No. It’s mixed into oatmeal. It’s smeared with nut butter. It’s turned into bread or muffins. It’s used as a substitute for fats in baking. It’s tossed into smoothies. It’s sandwiched between a couple slices of bread or rolled inside a tortilla or pita. But to take it along with me as a snack, all by its lonesome? Preposterous!
Bananas are a fantastic source of nutrition, and as Sarah pointed out, just about any home will have a lonely bunch hanging from a basket in the kitchen. But who eats them? And how do they get eaten? Does anyone really care for bananas when they aren’t combined with something else? I’m interested to know.
That is our (very profound, thought-provoking, and deeply philosophical) question for this month’s poll! What’s your opinion on bananas? When I went to Cambodia, we made banana flower salad and used banana leaves to create cups. A woman I met there knew all about the fruit because she owned a banana plantation in the Caribbean. Bananas are a great source of vitamin B6 (vegans, are you listening? :)). All around, they’re a pretty great fruit!
[polldaddy poll=2096207]
The World’s Healthiest Foods website- one of my favourite resources to learn about nutrition- talks all about the health benefits of bananas if you’re interested in reading more.
Speaking of the World’s Healthiest Foods website, I’m thinking about writing a separate blog post for every food on the website, to spread the awareness about the nutrients in each of these foods and to post a recipe for each. Let me know if that’s something you’d all be interested in reading more about! I would probably pick a different food each week so that one out of every three blog posts would be featuring a World’s Healthiest Food (the other two posts each week would be regular Living Healthy articles).
Leave your opinions about the World’s Healthiest Foods idea or about your thoughts on bananas in the comments!
You still have a few days left to enter my giveaway for Mimi Spencer’s 101 Things to Do Before You Diet, too.
Well, I voted for them mixed into things, but I do enjoy bananas on their own sometimes. Especially frozen. I wonder what pureed frozen bananas count as – only 1 ingredient, but not bananas in their pure form. Guess that counts as a mix 😛
It’s a shame people are scared of bananas because they are high in sugar. Fructose is not evil! On biggest loser this week one of the contests really bugged me – the contestants were supposed to avoid mango and pineapple and banana, etc… because they are too high in calories/sugar. I disagree. THey’re freaking fruit!! It doesn’t matter!!
I’m just a fruit girl though. I could probably live on apples if it was healthy.
I voted for “as nature made them”, but have to admit another favourite of mine is a banana with a hefty slathering of peanut butter!
i love bananas, any way but green 😉
I like the idea of your new blog!! I would read it often,as I know I could always learn more about specific foods to recommend to clients.
Maggie- ooohh very valid question. I think that pureed and frozen counts as mixed/mashed 😉 And I agree, people should NOT be afraid of bananas!
Andrew- everything’s better with peanut butter.
Shannon- yum.
Gina- oh goodness no it wouldn’t be a whole new blog. I already have my hands full with Living Healthy and Living Rhetorically! I’d just be doing a specific food one day a week on this blog here. You wouldn’t even have to click away from Living Healthy in the Real World 😉
I really like bananas. I have 4 or so a week. Normally I cook them into my oatmeal or use them to top my pancakes with.
HaHa!! I eat a banana almost every day too! I like them a little firm, before they get real ripe. Sometimes chilled from the fridge. Never thought a banana split made sense. Why put a banana in that
🙂
I like bananas in my smoothies or cereal, but I also take one on the days that I’m comutting in the car. They are naturally wrapped to stay fresh, and it’s the perfect snack to eat while on my way home. I also love the potasium (sp ck please lol) in them!
I checked out your blog today because I loved your comment at Dianne’s blog, glad I checked it out!
I love bananas, as nature made them, when they’re just ripe – we buy them green and eat them after a couple of days mmmmm. They are also delicious mashed on toast + shoved under the grill. And finally, they are so nice chopped up with chopped dates + dried apricots + a little creme fraiche. All in all bananas rule ok!
We don’t eat bananas as nature made them. Ever. There are no longer any non-GMO bananas. In fact, if the companies owning current seed stock (which is clonal because bananas have been bred to be sterile and cannot reproduce) were to go out of business OR a fungus/other pest was to wipe out bananas, that would be it. No more bananas, ever. As nature them, or otherwise.
I’m like Maggie – I just love produce! Bananas are delish mixed into stuff but I also love eating them plain too. Although I prefer them green:)
Lori- ooh yes I’m a big big fan of banana pancakes. Of course, singing Jack Johnson while making them is the first direction in the recipe that I use.
Dr. J & Charlotte- I’ve heard that the nutrients change as the banana ripens, so I wonder if our different preferences for various stages of the ripening cycle (with some people enjoying them a little firmer, and others liking them to be completely brown) reflects our body’s differing nutrient requirements? I’d love it if someone did a study on that.
Brenda- so glad that you stopped by!
Liz- WOW they sound delicious mashed on toast, I’ve never thought of trying to broil them or something… tasty.
Westwood- you’re too environmentally-clever for me. Okay, let’s talk about definitions! The definition of nature has changed over time. Today, “nature” is what humans have created (and yeah. I find that equally as depressing). Hm, so is a banana “real food”? Or do you think it’s as processed as a frozen meal? These are some major dilemmas here. Apparently my silly question for a poll CAN be discussed in all seriousness!
My attitude is shown by my assumption that the answers to the headline question would be “green”, “yellow”, and “speckled.” I like bananas right out of their skin. In fact I can’t think of any way I like them combined with anything except the fruit salad we used to make–chopped bananas, chopped dates, and canned pineapple chunks. I don’t like banana bread at all, and I don’t like anything in my oatmeal except a little salt.
Mary Anne in Kentucky
I get the mini-bananas, don’t really like a whole banana usually. Just a hint of green, no brown at all. I was just reading about resistant starch in slightly green bananas, so another plus. Usually I eat them as is, but occasionally I’ll put them in pancakes, or on the rare occasion when I’m trying to eat yogurt, I’ll put it in there, with some strawberries or other fruit.
I love bananas! I mix them into oatmeal, sure, and enjoy chocolate-covered frozen bananas, but I love them plain – right out of the peel.
That being said, I feel there’s a very small window for banana goodness in their peel-and-eat form. They must be YELLOW. Not a little green, not a little brown. Pure yellow. So good.
I never eat bananas by themselves either. They’re just not good raw. I only eat them cooked or soemthing!
i love bananas, just a little underripe, sliced thinly and layered on top of some peanut butter toast.
I pretty much eat them by themselves, but I’m very picky about it. If they’re too green, all I can taste is the metal. If they’re too brown, they taste like mush. So there’s about a 4 day window when I can eat the bananas without being grossed out. Hence the reason we only by a few bananas at a time.
Mary Anne- mmmm fruit salad.
Julie- I find it so fascinating how the nutrient content of bananas changes dramatically depending on how ripe they are.
Kimberly- I forgot about chocolate covered bananas! Of course, just about anything smothered in chocolate is sure to taste delicious.
Burpexcuzme- agreed.
Monica- tasty tasty.
Gena- such a fine line!
When it comes to bananas I am like Forrest Gump’s friend Bubba with his shrimp. I literally have hundreds of uses for them!
I often eat a banana before leaving the house, whether I’m going shopping,exercising or visiting. I also like them just-ripe. I like that I don’t mess on myself or ruin my lipstick while eating a banana.
Sometimes I dip them in tahini.
There are always frozen bananas in my freezer and to me smoothies are just not smoothies without bananas.
Some evenings we might feel like something sweet, in which case I’d slice a few bananas and sprinkle raw cacao over – delicious! They also work well in desserts.
I would hate to live without bananas. Strangely enough, I don’t eat apples. I use them in food and smoothies, but I don’t enjoy just biting into one.
I voted for “I never eat bananas” but the true answer is that I rarely eat bananas. If I’m going to eat them, I prefer the actual whole banana. I don’t like them mashed and mixed into things at all and I don’t like anything banana-flavored. I wish I liked bananas – they seem to be one of the few fruits that you can pretty much get year round. I just don’t enjoy them. 🙁
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